27 Ways to Get Inspired to Play Music Again

It’s been a while since you’ve picked up your horn, sat down to the piano, or even thought about practicing. As time goes by, it gets more and more difficult to get that spark going again. Ok, time to get out of this rut and do something about it. Here are 27 ideas to get you inspired to play and practice again.

Pick One. Do it.

Yes, that’s it. Just one at a time. Then, when you feel a sense of accomplishment and have begun to improve again, pick another.

Here we go:

1.) Find some new things to listen to

Everything you play right now is largely based upon what you’ve listened to up to this point. Whether you’ve studied it or just put it on in the background, everything you listen to affects what you play and how you conceptualize music.

Finding new music to listen to is easier today than it’s ever been. My father tells me all the time that the reason he has certain records is because when he went down to the record shop, that’s all there was! He had a few dozen jazz albums to choose from, so that’s what he bought. Lucky for him, he’s got some great recordings in there.

Go on Spotify. Explore Youtube. Look up any artist you’ve ever been remotely interested in but never took the time to check out. The music doesn’t have to be new. It just has to be new to you.

There is so much great music out there. Dedicate time to finding it and listening to it.

Always keep listening. It’s the number one way to get inspired to play and practice again.

2.) Find something besides jazz to listen to

Get out of your comfort zone and listen to non-jazz music. I know some jazz musicians that look down on listening to non-jazz music. Personally, I think that’s ridiculous. There’s so much great stuff out there, you just have to sift through a lot of stuff you don’t like to discover it.

Even pop music can be really interesting, especially when talented musicians reharmonize and make their own arrangements.

3.) Go see live music

Depending upon where you live, this may be difficult, but within an hour or two of most towns, you can usually see live music. There’s nothing like seeing and hearing jazz up close and personal.

And when you leave, you’re almost always more stoked to play than when you came in.

4.) Buy a new set of headphones

This may sound dumb, but I promise you. It’s not. When so much of your life revolves around listening to music, why not make that experience as awesome as possible?

It’s like having a great bed. As comedian Daniel Tosh says about sleep and having great sheets, pillows, and bedding, “It’s a third of your life. Spend the money”

Well for us musicians, listening is like that. It’s a ton of your life. Spend the money and get a pair of headphones you like.

Some of my personal favorites that give great sound and comfort for an affordable price:

5.) Learn a line from a musician that doesn’t play your instrument

It’s easiest and most obvious to transcribe lines from people that play your instrument. While it’s incredibly beneficial, getting away from people that play your instrument will completely alter how you think, hear, and conceptualize jazz.

If you play piano, transcribe a horn player. If you play saxophone, try trumpet.

Michael Brecker was known for transcribing guitar players. Experiment and see what instruments besides your own that you like.

6.) Instead of focusing so much on chords, focus on rhythm

Harmony seems to be at the forefront of every teaching method and everyone’s mind. Not to say that it’s not important – it’s extremely important.

17.) Learn how to visualize lines

The thing is, if you can’t visualize something clearly, it’s going to be difficult to play. If you can visualize it clearly it will be easy to play.

Lines are no different. You need to be able to feel them in your fingers perfectly, which is something the eBook goes over.

18.) Find people that share your passion

Go to a local jam session or call up your fellow musician friends. Sometimes when you’re practicing all by yourself so much, you can lose sight of the fact that there are others out there that are just as excited about this stuff as you.

Even hanging out with people that share your passion for music can inspire you to get excited to play more.

19.) Commit to not changing your equipment

It can be tempting to change your equipment all the time. While this may help you, it distracts you from focusing on practicing. Instead of learning a new line and understanding how to use that information, you waste your whole practice time determining which reed or mouthpiece you like best.

Now this doesn’t mean you have to stick the equipment forever. It just means, put your practice and your improvement first.

20.) Get basic piano skills

Every musician needs basic piano skills. If you’re not excited to pick up your instrument at the moment, then get a keyboard and sit down for twenty minutes and get some piano skills.

21.) Learn a line from a musician you’ve never transcribed

A great way to get a fresh perspective is to learn from someone that’s new to you. Everyone thinks about music and jazz improvisation differently.

By getting inside someone’s head who you’ve never studied, you’re introducing new patterns of thinking into your mind.

24.) Learn to sing chord tones over chords

Sit at the piano and play a major chord. Sing the root. Now play the chord again and sing the 3rd. Next, sing the 5th. Finally, play the chord again and sing the 7th.

This is just the beginning. You can do this with all chord types and voicings. And, you can sing chord tones that you’re not even playing on the piano.

This is a great ear training exercise to begin to hear what each chord tone sounds like in context. If you want tracks to do this exercise on the go, they’re all in The Ear Training Method, which we made specifically for ourselves so we could actually do this stuff on the go.

27.) Listen to old stuff you used to listen to

Remember that recording you used to listen to and every time you listened to it, you thought “Wow, this is some incredible music!”

What happened to that recording? Often, we forget about how much we loved certain records that we used to be obsessed with. Rekindling the flame with these lost loves will help get you excited about the music again.

Dig out old songs, albums, and artists that you used to be obsessed with and give them a listen. You may not only find that you forgot about some of your favorites, but also that your ear has grown a lot since the last time you listened to them.

Getting back in the groove

All it takes is one good practice session to get you back on track. The problem is getting that inspired session to happen!

The key to getting out of a rut is to mix it up. To do something totally different from what you’ve been doing. You need to break the routine. Break the monotony. You need to give your brain, ear, and soul something new. And not just anything will do…

There are a million new jazz concepts out there everyday, new publications, new techniques with fancy names, but my advice is steer clear. When you’re in a rut, don’t jump on the bandwagon of some new concept or technique. Instead, choose one of the basic ideas presented here and accomplish it from start to finish.

These are the ideas that will get your creative juices flowing again because they’re based upon simple fundamentals.

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